Kadavar - Rough Times album review

Berlin’s hirsute retro-rockers get down and get high

After touring almost constantly since the band’s inception, German diehards Kadavar have developed into one of the most reliable and consistent bands currently sucking in the 70s sounds of the psych and hard rock’s heyday. Rough Times, the band’s fourth outing, returns to the band’s dirtier, fuzzed-out and heavier roots, which their previous album, Berlin, had jettisoned in favour of a more cleanly produced, accessible and sunny cheer. The album’s title is a reflection of the band’s chaotic lifestyle on the road as well as the current state of the world, and this harder, heady sound reflects the title perfectly. Rough Times is a cosmic collection of darkly drugged-out, grooving swagger, searing fuzz and delicately lysergic, Krautrock-inspired astral travel, showcasing the band’s maturity and progression to higher realms of ‘kosmiche’ musik.